SINGAPORE – Asia-Pacific shares traded higher on Thursday following a rally on Wall Street.
Japanese Nikkei 225 rose 0.76%, while the Topix index gained 0.25%.
The Kospi in Korea increased by 0.33% and Kosdaq increased by 0.65%.
In Australia, S&P / ASX 200 add 0.21%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of China was 0.21% higher.
Overnight in the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 both gained more than 1%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 2.59%, driven by higher tech stocks.
The better-than-expected services PMI for July gave investors confidence amid fears of a US recession.
In the area, Alibaba and DBS earnings report on Thursday.
DBS, Singapore’s largest bank, reported a net profit of S$1.82 billion ($1.32 billion), the second-highest in history, the bank said in a press release. This is above the median forecast of S$1.7 billion, according to data from Refinitiv.
A Reuters report cites a single source said the world’s largest battery maker, CATL, will continue to work to supply cheaper lithium iron batteries to Ford Motor. CATL will also produce batteries in North America by 2026, the report said Wednesday.
Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday that CATL is delaying a decision on a North American plant.
Currency and oil
The US Dollar Indextrack the greenback against its basket of currencies, at 106.477, higher than earlier this week.
The Japanese yen was trading at 133.70 per dollar, weaker than the levels seen earlier in the week. The Australian dollar is $0.6938.
Oil futures inched up on Thursday after Brent fell 3.7% and US crude fell 4% on Wednesday following US data showing a surprise increase in crude and gasoline inventories.
US crude oil rose 0.67% to $91.27 a barrel, while Brent crude rose 0.64% to $97.40 a barrel.
